When everything shatters
by Fi Vind
Summary: War is never an easy thing to deal with... it comes with the lost of loved ones, of people who were truly the Bravest of them all... One girl lost all of that in just a day and a night... her world and the place she called home is gone... and then, the sun rises..


It was usually a regular day in toontown, birds were singing, clear sunny skies, and of course, toons and cogs fighting as they always did.. no one knows how or when the war started, nor who even sparked it.. it was pretty much lost to history and time... It was however, quite peaceful today, no cogs were on the streets and no buildings were taken over so the toons thought they were enjoying the day as well

One toon however, was completely on edge.. a middle-aged light blue mouse was currently watching the sky and street of her neighborhood, moving her natural light blue bangs out if the way muttering. She was quite tall for a mouse toon, even an inch taller then the adverage adult mouse.. she knew she must of gotten it from her father. She felt like calling him and asking if he could help her keep watch but she didnt want to, he was weak with age and just wasnt as spunky like when he was younger and when she was a kid herself

She shoved the memories into the back of her head, she couldnt afford to be distracted.. she had to keep watch. children were running around and laughing and parents were chatting about the day. She smoothed out her dress a bit as she kept watch, her bangs keeping the sun out if her eyes a bit, but they were blocking her sight..

It just felt to damn perfect to her... there was a catch... she just knew it.. the cogs were planning something, that's why they weren't on the streets. "Mommy?" A small voice asked and the mouse took her steely purple gaze off of the street for a minute to look at her daughter

The little girl had short light blue hair with a bit of a coral tint to it, her fur a gentle orange and her eyes a light teal, her somewhat medium sized fluffy tail swishing back and forth. She was still wearing her night shirt, which was an old shirt of her mothers, it had a picture of the VP with a red circle with a line going through it in the middle and the sellbots icon on the back.

She took after both her parents, her being a mouse and her father being a dog. Her father was a tall coral dog with gentle teal eyes and a long fluffy tail. He was quite the Joker and childish, but he was serious when needed..

She was sure she got her orange fur from her father's side however.. no one on her mother's side had orange fur and no one in her husbands family had orange fur..

"Yes lyrsong?" She asked as she kept flicking her gaze back and forth between her daughter and the streets, "Mommy what's wrong? You keep looking outside" lyrsong said as she tried to jump up and look outside also, stopping whenever she dropped her plushie to pick it up, she was only 5 but she was shorter then the adverage mouse when they are children, something she got from her mothers mother's side as nearly everyone was short

"Its... it's nothing, mommy's just worried about something is all" the light blue mouse said as she continued to stare out the window, shifting in her seat a bit, she saw a few toons look at her for a second then away.. she was used to it

Ever since she was little she was always paranoid about everything, trees, clouds, light, everything.. it wasn't as bad as it was back then but it had earned her the title "Crazy Azul" as she got older.. she could care less about how people talked about her...

"Mommy, mommy can I go outside?" Lyrsong asked as she tugged on her mother's dress and Azul shook her head, "not today little fluff, I feel like somethings gonna happen.. and nothing good..."

Actually...

* * *

"Stay here lyrsong, I'll be right back." Azul said as she got up and headed for the front door, heading outside and locking it behind her, she held a gloved hand over her eyes, _damn.. the suns bright as hell today.._ Azul thought as she carefully combed her bangs over her eyes once more, it helped block out the sun a bit.

"Hey! Azul!" A voice called out, Azul looked in the direction of it and saw a good friend of hers, a short sea green cat named kooky bananapaws. "Hi kooky. Hey, don't you feel this is all... just TO perfect?" Azul asked as she walked over and kooky shrugged

"It feels like any other day to me but.. it DOES feel a little off.. have you been feeling like that all day?" Kooky said as she kept a watchful eye on her own rambunctious twins out if the corner of her eye, and azul nodded. "Yeah... I practically almost begged skip to not go to work today..." Azul muttered, blushing lightly, embaressed and kooky frowned

"Then.. are you certain something gonna happen?" Kooky asked, an edge of fear in her voice as she turned her attention to her twins who were currently rough housing with a few other kids. "Woahwoahwoah! Calm down! I.. I'm.. kind of sure... just, please keep a look out... if you even see what looks like a glimpse of a cog, take your twins and run tail to... you know where" Azul whispered as there were some eyes on them, slightly suspicious..

"Alright.. I will, thank you for the warning azul... I'll take lyrsong with me if you want me to, or do you still believe in that bunker?" Kooky said, nearly everyone knew about the infamous bunker, Azul had planned it when she moved here.. It was like a shelter of sorts, plenty of rumors were around about it.

"Yes, I still believe in the bunker.. I didn't pay all those jellybeans for nothing and a flimsy one.." Azul said as she rolled her eyes, she smiled and waved as she walked back to her house.. "see you later kooky!"

Kooky waved back and continued to keep an eye on her twins, "hey! Not so rough you guys!"

Azul sighed as she locked the door once again, she was a little bit more calm, but she still felt like something was going to happen... she shook her head and walked back to her seat and sat back down, keeping watch once again.

"Mommy..?" Lyrsong asked, "Yes little fluff?" Azul asked as she stared outside the window, her ears twitching slightly.. "is something gonna happen?" Lyrsong asked and Azul shrugged, "I don't know.. I don't know lyrsong.. I feel like it is but I can't be to sure.."

she muttered as she continued to watch the street.. "want to help mama keep watch, little fluff?" Azul asked and her daughter nodded, her tail wagging even more

Azul smiled as she picked her up and set her in her lap, and gently began combing her daughters hair with her fingers, humming. Now starting to relax and enjoy the peace around them.. lyrsong giggled as she held her blanket and plushie close to her, she never went anywhere without them, it was normal for children to do this sort of thing.. sometimes they never grew out of it, Azul secretly wished she didn't kind of..

"So, what have you and Mr. Rabbit been doing today, fluff?" Azul asked as she carefully took the light green plushie from her daughter and began making the plushie jump in the air and lyrsong giggled, "we went gag shopping and made our own gags and all sorts of stuff!" Lyrsong giggled as she snuggled closer and Azul gave her the plushie back, wrapping her arms around her and rested her head gently on her daughters

Today was a peaceful day right? Maybe she should enjoy it instead of just being paranoid..

* * *

A child was walking with his mother, he looked up at the sky and saw something flying. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look at the birdie!" He squeaked, as he pointed to the flying object. The mother looked up and froze, her eyes wide.. there were multiple of them, and they were NOT birds...

She quickly picked her son up and ran, "SOUND THE ALARM! GET THE CHILDREN TO SAFETY! HURRY! SOUND IT!" She screamed as she ran for home as fast as her legs could carry her, everyone stopped what they were doing..

Children ran for there parents, screaming.. And a loud blaring soon filled the air

Azul was brought out of the peace that used to be around and looked up at the sky and gasped in horror, eyes widening and lept out of her seat, clutching lyrsong closely and protectively.

The sky was dark, like the brrrghs sky but darker.. almost oil black.. the alarm blared through the neighborhood, adults and teens who could fight were running into the streets throwing or using the first gag they got there hands on at any cog that first landed, screaming battle cries

Azul ran for the backyard, the alarm ringing in her ears, "mommy?! What's going on?!" Lyrsong whimpered, shaking as she clinged to her mother as Azul opened the hatch to the bunker she had built when she first moved here, everyone called her, of course, crazy for it but she was relived for building it now.. the hatch was practically invisible and blended in to the enviorment no matter what, it costed a fortune and Azul prayed that she didn't waste a single jellybean and all the nights and days she had to go through saving for it..

And that it kept her daughter safe...

"Lyrsong, you have- no, I NEED you to stay in here and in the secret wall just like we practiced, ok?don't you dare come out until either me, your father, or someone we know or from the neighborhood comes and gets you, ok sweety?" Azul said and lyrsong nodded, sniffling as she was trying her best not to cry, azul's heart was breaking at the sight of her daughter crying, but she had to be strong.. she had to focus in order to fight the cogs that were currently invading there home.. and for her daughter

Azul watched her daughter climb down the ladder, "I love you lyrsong.." Azul said before with great reluctance, shut the hatch closed, bolting it shut as tight as it could be and dashed towards the house, locking the backyard door behind her

She grabbed her cellphone and quickly dialed a phone number as she ran up the stairs, "pickuppickuppickuppickuppickup!" She hissed as she busted into her room and yanked her gag backpack from under the bed, dusting it off slightly before checking the gags inside.. fully stocked

"Azul?" A voice said

"SKIP! You have to get home right now! Cogs are invading! Are they anywhere else?!" Azul said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder as she ran down the stairs, bursting through the front door and seeing the carnage...

Toons were losing battles, running out of gags or were out, had gone sad and we're being flown away in cages... a few dead bodies were even on the street... cogs kept coming and coming, wave after wave.. many buildings taken over, the sky a bleak dark grey..

"dear... god.." Azul whispered, she shook her head and looked around, she whistled and tossed her backpack in a random direction, then fled into the house, locking the door behind her and turning off all the lights in the house, shaking. She was scared.. is this what they were planning? Is this why it was so peaceful? Is this why there weren't any cogs in the streets until now?!

'There all over the place! In the streets, the playgrounds-"

'THE PLAYGROUNDS?!" Azul yelled whispered, shocked, they were in the playgrounds to?! No.. they could.. "They... there not.. please, please tell me skip there not..."

"They are... there trying to take over toontown and there's to many of them.. we don't have a choice! We have to retreat to-"

'LIKE HELL WE ARE!"

"AZUL! THINK OF OUR DAUGHTER!"

Azul went silent as she stopped in her tracks

"Azul... please..." skips voice had an edge of desperation to it.. and Azul nodded, "I know skip.. of course I'm thinking about her! I can't take her now... not until it's clear or until night.. it's to dangerous! We're going to hide from them in the bunker... if they get to close then... then I'll have to fight.."

"I know.. but please.. be careful.. I can't bear to lose you or lyrsong..."

"I know.. and you to, I know how reckless you can be, dummy.."

"Azul... I love you.. so much.." Skip said and azul nodded, "i-i.. I love you to.." she whispered, her voice cracking and tears slowly rolling down her cheeks as she hung up... she took a deep breath, she had to be strong... she couldn't think that way.. she would see him again.. he was childish, sure, but he was smart

"Please let him be safe..." she whispered as she went upstairs once again and got the other gag bag, it didn't have lure so that was already a big disadvantage.. but she could manage. She quickly put it on and ran for the bunker

* * *

Lyrsong sat in a corner of the bunker, hugging her blanket and plushie closely, curled up in a ball on her side as she sobbed, she was hoping this was just a dream but with all the noises from outside, it wasnt.. she wished her mom was here to hold her, to tell her everything was ok and that the toons would save the day again...

They always won, didn't they..? They were strong! They could defeat any cog in toontown! Couldn't they..? She sniffed and shook her head, why was she doubting them? Of course they could!

She heard a clank and held her breath, the sound of the hatch opening and closing scared her to the core, she tried curling herself into a smaller ball, sniffling as quietly as she could, the sound of the lamp being taken off of the hook and being lit, only then did she turn to see who it was

"Lyrsong? Lyrsong.. it's me.." she saw in the yellow orange glow of the small lamps flame, was her mother, a deeply concerned and frightened look on her face, lyrsong wanted to run to her but she was to scared to even move an inch, she buried her face in her blanket and started sniffling again, then crying

"Lyrsong.. shhh.. it's alright.. it's gonna be ok little fluff" her mother whispered as she carefully placed the lamp beside them, kneeling infront of her and carefully picked her up, rocking her back and forth. "Mommy... I'm scared.." Lyrsong choked out before sobbing again, burying her face in the crook of her mother's neck

"I know.. I know lyrsong... I am to.." Azul whispered as she cradled lyrsong, holding her tightly. "We.. we just have to stay in here for a little while, alright? Just until it's quiet, then.. them we'll go somewhere safe, alright?"

Lyrsong nodded as her crying softened and turned into sniffles, the sounds of the war outside only seems to grow louder...

* * *

The bunker was thoughtfully planned out, the walls were four tier layered, the first being tightly compacted sand with bits of metal, the second layer was brick infused with titanium steel and the third layer was dirt, tightly compacted as well amd the fourth was wood. The floor was a dark green carpet, boxes and boxes of supplies stacked on wooden and steel shelves.

Blankets, extra clothes, food, water, gags, anything and everything was in them.. it was basically a second home but not completely, it lacked a kitchen and bedrooms, a small bathroom with a sink and toilet was behind a door that was hidden by one of the many shelves

"Are you sure you and the twins are alright?" Azul asked as she paced around, her daughter watching her, her eyes filled with fear

"Yes.. we're fine.. the basement is safe enough.. I would teleport away... we all would and we know it! But the damn cogs.. they sabotaged the teleportation house.. we're stranded until they leave or something.." Kooky sighed as she shushed one of the twins who was whimpering. "How are you and lyrsong? Are you two ok?" She asked

"We're fine. We have supplies and everything.. you guys can stay with us if you manage to sneak over here! I'll come get you nyself!" Azul said as she sat down, her feet sore from pacing. "It's to dangerous Azul and you know it!" Kooky snorted

"Isn't it worth a shot?"

"I'm sorry azul... I don't want to put my kids at risk with getting hurt or... or.. worse.."

"I.. I understand... but promise me that you'll come straight over as soon as this ends, alright?"

"I will.. and no calling each other.. who knows if those cogs are spying or hijacked anything.. see you azul..."

"See you..." Azul muttered as she hung up and shoved the phone in her pocket, signing. She looked over at lyrsong who was staring at her, Azul opened her mouth to say something when a loud explosion shook the ground, barely but it was enough to make lyrsong scream and leap into her mother's arms

Azul held her close as she to let out a squeak of fear.. what was going on outside..? _please let this be over soon... please.. please.._ she begged silently

* * *

Azul looked at the time on her phone, 6:10PM

She muttered as she turned it back off and shook her head a bit, she was struggling to keep her eyes open.. she was sure by this time that the cogs were just destroying everything now.. she was 1000% sure her home was nothing but a pile of rubble now.. the sounds of explosions were even louder now, she was just praying that not to many ended up either dead or captured.. and for her friends and husbands safety

She sighed as she stood up and went to one of the shelves, taking one of the boxes marked in bold black marker: **BLANKETS+WINTER** and opened it, taking out a large neatly folded quilt and walking back to where she was sitting

"Scoots a little bit back fluff" she said and lyrsong scooted back into a corner, watching her mother spread out the quilt on the carpet, taking 2 more and doing the same thing, layering them on top of one another, creating a comfortable pallet. She got the last quilt and then sealed the box closed and put it back in its respectable spot, yawning as she did.

It was normally cold in the fall but it was comfortably warm on some days.. today was one of them, until... everything happened... tomorrow was the start of winter and temperatures would certainly be freezing.

As Azul unfolded the quilt, lyrsong was laying on the pallet fast asleep, Azul spread out the quilt but made sure that it didn't cover her head or neck. Azul got under the quilt, pulling it up to her chin, curling up into a ball, she looked over at lyrsong, her face was gentle and calm. Azul smiled faintly, but it faded quickly..

"I.. I'm so sorry lyrsong.. I didn't want you to go through all this.. I never wanted you to.." she whispered as she reached over and gently brushed a few strands of hair that were covering her eyes, tears welling in her eyes.. she turned away from her daughter, signing slowly and slowly closed her eyes, letting sleep take her

* * *

 _Lyrsong slowly opened her eyes, she mumbled as she pulled the quilt up to her neck, curling into a ball and shifting slightly, trying to find a comfortable spot. She rolled onto her other side, her eyes half open_

 _She blinked when she thought she saw something... she thought it was just her imagination but it scared her and she opened her eyes and actually saw the outline of someone. She scooted away and felt for the lantern like her mother told her to, she felt it and grabbed it, holding on to it with a tight grip_

 _She had no clue on how to light it.. she wasn't allowed to try and light it herself as her parents were worried she would end up burning herself.. she gripped the lantern as footsteps echoed through the bunker, they sounded strange however..._

 _Lyrsong couldn't take it anymore and threw the lantern at the figure_

 _It made a metallic clang as it hit the figure and fell to the floor_

 _She froze at the sound.. how did a cog get in here?! The bunker was hidden wasn't it? Her breathing was shallow as it turned towards her, it's robotic eyes glowing in the darkness.. she dashed towards the stairs, running up them and reaching for the hatch when it swung open, revealing more of the metal menaces_

 _Lyrsong squealed as she tried to back away but she tripped over her own feet and fell down the stairs, screaming as she did_

* * *

Lyrsong gasped as she bolted up, shaking and looking around wildly.. at first she thought she was in her room, safe and sound.. but then she realized she was in the bunker.. the light was still on and there weren't any cogs or strangers in here... she began calming down, signing in relief.

She looked around once again, then realized that her mother wasn't there.. "Mommy?" Lyrsong said as she looked around.. she looked over to the shelf that hid the bathroom door and saw it hadn't been moved... did her mom go outside the bunker...?

Her stomach growled and she looked around for one of the boxes that had food in it, and then noticed something else...

It was quiet.. there wasn't any sound coming from the outside, compared to the explosions from earlier.. But... what did that mean? Did they win? Did they lose? Did the cogs destroy there home..? She wanted to go outside and look for herself, but her mother's words rang and repeated over and over in her head..

She shivered at the sudden cold that was surrounding the bunker, she could tell it was winter

Wait.. winter..?

She stood up, grabbing her blanket and plushie and started to walk to the stairs but stopped.. she didn't want to disobey her mom but.. she had to know if she was ok.. and if she was coming back... lyrsong swallowed thickly, then began walking to the stairs. The bunker ladder was able to convert to stairs if needed.. it seemed that her mother did that before she left..

She nervously and slowly accented the stairs, shivering as she did. She reached up and unbolted the hatch, slowly pushing it open and gasped when an icy cold blast of air hit her. She slowly placed the gloveless paw that held her blanket tightly onto the snow covered ground, then the other one, and pulled herself up

She was nnon-stop shivering due to the cold, the snow falling gently and lightly as she looked around.. she saw the remains of what there home used to be, now just nothing but a pile of ash and rubble... she closed the hatch again and walked towards the pile

There really was nothing left.. she sat in the snow, folding her legs under her and poked the pile, the grimy ash and soot sticking to her fingers, she stood up and looked around again.. her mom had to be here.. she had to be..

Lyrsong walked past the rubble, tripping a few times, two times into the rubble and ended up covering herself in the grimy stuff but ignored it as she kept shivering, her blanket now wrapped around her and she hugged her plushie tightly. She wandered towards the street and stood there

There were large lumps and piles of snow, gags and gears and cog parts were stewn all over the place, buildings were crumbling and only a few were still standing.. one seemed to have been on fire.. there were a few toons walking around, searching for survivors it seemed.. but lyrsong didn't recognize any of them.. they were wearing some kind of dark maroon uniform which lyrsong could only think of belonging to the toon resistance..

She could trust them.. but.. what if her mother came back..? If her mother found her gone then she would go insane with trying to find her..

Lyrsong turned back around and began walking back to the bunker, ignoring the shouts that were following her.. She began running, opening the hatch and quickly heading in and closing it behind her, the shouts now muffled

She walked down the steps as the shouts continued to grow louder and slightly clearer.. she Walked back to the pallet she and her mother shared just the day before and sat down, wrapping the quilt around her, shivering, tears now flowing down her cheeks as she laid on the pallet

"I saw something open up here!" Said a voice she didn't recognize and heard the sound of the hatch being opened.

"Woah! There was a DOOR there?!" Said a male voice

"Damn.. she wasn't kidding when she specifically said where it was and it would be hard to find it.." said another male voice

"Stay here, I'll go see if their still down there.. You guys keep watch just incase, we can't be to careful.." said a female voice and then it was followed by footsteps, along with the hatch closing.. she watched the stairs and saw a peach colored mouse slowly desend

The stranger turned her head and gently smiled, "hey sweety.. are you alright..?" She said gently as if not to scare her, lyrsong just covered her head with the quilt, sniffling. "It's alright.. everything's ok now.. we'll get you to the safe zone and get you back to your parents.." she said calmly and gently as she walked towards lyrsong

Lyrsong uncovered her head, "you.. you know where they are..?" She whimpered and the stranger nodded as they picked her up, wrapping the quilt around her and letting the rest hang, the resistance member jogged up the stairs, calling to the rest of the team, the hatch opened and they emerged

The hatch was closed and bolted shut once again, and they all ran, keeping an eye out for any other cogs.. leaving behind the broken and destroyed town..

* * *

They traveled a long way and a long time, ducking and running through alleyways, avoiding any cogs and stopping to take breaks, taking shelter in buildings the cogs hadn't found yet.. lyrsong didn't know how long it was but finally they reached the destination.. chip and dales acorn acres.. the area was blanketed in snow like the rest of toontown

They walked up to the boarded up tunnel, no one knows why it was boarded up, but it always has been.. more were added as time passed, and no one decided to question it.. theories and myths instead began circling around, like: secret playground behind boarded tunnel! Is funny farms real? And, cogs have built large factory and cog headquarters behind boarded tunnel! Cog nation is yet to be found!

One of the members, a red horse, walked up and did some sort of knock that lyrsong assumed was secret as the resistance had a series of secret knocks, phases, and codewords.. a large board suddenly moved and they quickly went in, the toon who moved the board quickly put it back. It looked like it never moved..

They walked through the dark tunnel for awhile until a faint light flooded it, as soon as it appeared, they emerged into a forested area, cottages small and large were dotted around the village. Lyrsong looked around and saw the familiar hydrant shaped pet shop, a trolley but it's colors were green instead of the traditional yellow and red. White picket fences were dotted around the place as well

The dirt path was also covered in snow, but it wasn't snowing currently.. they kept walking until they came to a large building, almost identical to the toon hall back in toontown central, they walked in, greeted by warmth.. Toons were chattering and murmuring, a few crying..

* * *

Azul sat on the cot, her ears twitching like mad as she wringed her gloved hands frantically.. she had to go back for her daughter.. she had to go back for lyrsong... she was probably scared to death.. she was probably wondering where she was..

"She can't take care of herself! She's only 5! Please you HAVE to let me go back for her!" Azul begged after the first few minutes of waking up here at forest's mountain's edge, kooky and skip sitting by her side as she awoke in a panic

"What.. what happened?! The.. the cogs, everyone else.. what happened?!" She frantically asked and they calmly told her what had happened this morning.. the cogs rounded up what they thought were the only survivors of the attack and flew them away, the others who hid in basements or other secret compartments in their houses awoke and wondered outside to see the town destroyed and burned down, only a few standing up.. building crumbling and dead bodies on the streets..

Many crumpled to the ground wailing for the loss of anyone they knew or were close to, family members, mother's and father's, daughters and sons.. they wanted to search for them and give them proper burials and ceremonies, but they knew they would most likely wind up the same way, or worse.. taken away to god knows where the others were, so the remaining survivors gathered meagle supplies and left..

After kooky woke up this morning, she had found the town destroyed, dead bodies were scattered across the street... many of them good friends, neighbors and teens... the ground was just being covered with snow.. she got the twins up and was about to go to the secret area, when she heard skip yelling for her, Azul and lyrsong.

They found Azul out cold and out of laff, and in the beyond danger zone of lost laff.. but they heard the metallic footsteps of cogs so they had no choice but to flee with kooky carrying one twin and dragging the other and skip carrying azul. When Azul heard this she bolted up, ignoring the fiery pain in her side and shoulder, "WE HAVE TO GO BACK FOR HER! SHE CAN'T TAKE CARE OF HERSELF!" She screamed as she tried to get up but was held back by her husband

She begged him to let her go, but he refused.. he wanted to go get he as much as she did, but it was dangerous as nearly everyone's laff here in the toon hall, which was currently a makeshift shelter, was at 0 or in the negatives.. she still wanted to go, but after some time, she finally gave up and broke down sobbing..

Skip had asked the resistance rangers is they could go and find their daughter, he was relived when they said that they would send out a rescue team. All Azul could do was hope that the bunker worked...

Azul constantly asked if they had gotten back yet, but after hearing the same awnsers everytime, she gave up. Now all she could do was hope and pray..

* * *

Lyrsong looked around the room, seeing familiar faces and seeing some were missing.. where was everyone else? Didn't they make it to? We're there other safe zones and they were waiting there?

The rangers had went to go report there mission, and of course she couldn't come.. she asked why she couldnt come. "It's top secret and only members of the resistance can listen to" said a dark blue dog and the other members nodded. She was a bit disappointed but she understood.. plus, she was kind of a blabbermouth so she would if told everyone if she could..

So now she was left to her own devices.. she wondered through the crowded room, trying to find her parents or even kooky, if kooky was here then her parents were definitely here! She continued walking through the crowded room, a few toons who reconized her spoke up or smiled at her sadly, they didn't have any color in there fur so lyrsong knew it was just because they lost there laff..

She always wondered what losing your laff was like.. was it terrible? Did it hurt? She was curious but didn't want to go through it herself really... she shook the thought out if her head and sighed, shuffling to a corner and sat there, it was a last resort her mother taught her since she was a baby..

"Now listen lyrsong, if you ever and I mean EVER lose sight of me during a cog invasion or worse, you run to the darkest alley you can find and sit in a corner, try to find anything to hide behind as well.. if a cog comes into the alley, curl up into a ball and stay as still as possible.. don't move an inch until me or daddy comes find you, understand?"

Those words were currently swimming in her head, she did as her mother said, curling into a ball and rested her chin on her knees, the quilt spread out messy and now covered with soot, ash, and grime from the journey.. she stared at the toons moving around the room, seeing some point in directions and she heard someone shouting

* * *

Azul was now tapping her foot, nervously keeping watch of the room as toons stood in groups and clumps, she sighed and put her head in her hands. "Do you really think she'll be alright...? Do you think-"

"Azul, you've said that over a thousand times, calm down... she's a smart kid.." Skip said as he placed a hand gently on her back, "and besides, with all that training you've practically hammered into her head, she knows what to do.."

"Yeah.. but, she takes practically after you in everyway.. and it's mostly your childish side"

"Hey! I am not childish!" Skip said as he crossed his arms, Azul couldn't help but just snort with amusement.. good god why did he have to be so cute when he was mad? Azul snorted and covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh, and skip smiled. "I knew I could get you to laugh.. and- hey! Your colors returning!"

Azul looked at her arm and indeed a bit of her color was showing once more, but just barely.. she looked at her laff watch and saw that her laff was starting to get a bit more out of the negatives, but it was still at -100

"Yeah.. but it's still in the 100's for negative..." she muttered and it ticked down slightly by 1. She sighed.. any kind of negative thing could set it backwards again if your laff had gone into the negatives... it was annoying but it wasn't that hard to get back to positive 0.. well.. depending on how low your laff was..

"And now it's gone backwards.." she muttered as she watched it and it started going back even more.. now she was getting frustrated... "god damn it.." she hissed as she stared at the floor, grumbling.. Skip opened his mouth to say something when rapid footsteps started getting closer

"Azul! I.. I saw lyrsong!" A medium height sunrise dog, who azul reconized as marigold, huffed as she pointed in the direction of the crowd and azul's head snapped up, "w-what?! Where?!" Azul asked as she and skip both stood up at the same time, kooky already looking through the crowded room..

"I saw her.. sitting in a corner.. I don't know why, she seemed scared" marigold said as Azul and skip bolted up and dashed into the crowd and began yelling for lyrsong, kooky watched as they disappeared into the crowd, a few parting or moving out of the way for them, neighbors pointing in directions

* * *

Lyrsong could hear the shouting clearly and quickly stood up, looking around wildly trying to see where they were... she knew they were her parents and she wanted to run to them, but she couldn't see where they were. She ran into the crowd, dragging the quilt behind her

"Mommy! Daddy!" She yelled as she ran through the crowd, stopping only when she couldn't get around anyone, she continued running then came to a halt when she saw her mother whipping her head around as she scanned the crowd, her father asking where she was..

"MOMMY! DADDY!" She yelled as she ran towards them, they heard her and turned there heads towards the sound and saw her, they ran towards her, arms outstreched

"Lyrsong..." Azul whispered as she scooped up her daughter, hugging her tightly. Skip hugging both of them, Azul tearfully muttered apology after apology and why she didn't come back, as did skip. But lyrsong couldn't really care, she was just happy that her parents found her.. and that they were alive

* * *

 **later that night...**

There wasn't much movement in the small village, only the smoke from the fireplaces and chimneys were the only thing, disappearing into the clear, dark blue sky, the stars shining brightly. There were a few guards roaming, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. A guard stared at the shadows, they thought they saw something moving...

They continued to stare until they realized that it was moving and what it was shaped as... they quickly got out a fog horn and was about to sound the alarm before they were grabbed, a metal hand covering their mouth. Another guard tried doing the same but had their neck snapped instead. A rookie was watching this all go down, and cogs were slowly flying in, but they hadn't noticed him yet... he took this chance and sounded the alarm as loud as he could

The cogs noticed him then, the last thing the rookie saw was more cogs flying in, their shadows covering the star filled sky before getting shot in the head

Azul bolted up at the sound of the alarm, her eyes wide and knowing what it meant... "EVERYONE! GET UP! THEY FOUND US! THE COGS FOUND US! WE HAVE TO GET TO SAFETY!" She cried as she lept up and ran around the room, waking as many toons as she could, others had been woken up by the alarm or the gunshot and they were already waking up others also.

Lyrsong clung to her father afraid, "Daddy, are the cogs gonna hurt us again?" Lyrsong whimpered, "i... I don't know lyrsong, we just have to run is all" Skip said as he began following the crowd of panicked toons to the front door when an explosion rang out, and so did others... and then darkness...

Lyrsong opened her eyes, her vision blurred as fire and smoke were the only things she saw, she slowly sat up, looking behind her to see the building she was just in moments before, now a fiery pile of rubble and stone, bodies were scattered around, a few groaning or screaming as they tried to run from the cogs that dragged them away, or wailing as they saw family that was crushed or maimed from the rubble or explosion

Lyrsong stared wide eyed at the scene before her, she spotted her parents lying in the snow, her mother's eyes open, her purple eyes glazed over still filled with terror, a dead look to them but still flaring with life.. her father was motionless, not moving or even breathing.. even when he was knocked out he would snore like a lion...

All lyrsong could do was stare in disbelief and shock, tears streaming down her face. She stood and was going to run to them

"Do you think there were any other survivors? And what are we going to do with the ones we captures and the bodies of the dead, sir?"

"We will execute them. They caused enough problems already.. as for the bodies, leave them here. Any other toons still alive might come here so we can easily ambush them while they greave for family or friends... don't bother looking for others, there's no way that anyone else survived that.. the weaklings"

Lyrsong slowly took a step back, then another, and another before turning tail and running into the forest as fast as her legs could carry her, not knowing where she was going or anything but she couldn't stay back there...

* * *

Lyrsong slowly walked through the abandoned house, she ran until she reached an abandoned town, only then falling to the ground, exausted and panting. She had to find somewhere to stay.. the first thing she saw was the house she was currently in, it was still sturdy and holding itself up after all this time.. it looked to be about 50 or more years old from how the wood warped and looked

There were a few holes in the floor, not to large though, the windows were cracked and covered with dust, snow and frost. She walked to one of them and looked outside, it was still dark outside.. she sighed and leaned against the wall, her back facing it

And then everything came crashing down and she broke down sobbing

She thought her parents would be searching for her right now, looking around desprate and they would find eachother again here, and stay here and be together... she clung to that hope as she ran, leaving them behind...

But she knew the painful and shattering truth... they were dead... she instantly knew from the way her mother's eyes looked, dead and glazed over... instead of the intense loving gaze she always had, a paranoid look to then and a steely gaze.. always filled with determination for everyday task and ideals

Her father not being his loud self, snoring like a race car, it was at first for laughs but it became something that he would always do.. his eyes always filled with laughter and bubbly cheer, always cheering her up whenever she was upset..

She didn't know how long she cried for, but she knew everything went dark at some point... when she woke up, the sun was just starting to come up, it's warm yellow light streamed into the room. All lyrsong could do was lay there, tears rolling down her cheeks, her throat hoarse from crying her heart out the night before..

 _"remember, everytime the sun rises, a new day begins with new opportunities..."_ the words rang in her head as the saw the suns rays.. it was something both her parents always said when they woke up in the morning..

She layed there as she buried her face in her blanket, the door creaked open and closed, metallic footsteps could be heard, she looked to see a legal eagle.. they sat down and simply looked at her, and she looked at him

Lyrsong sat up and sat, draping her blanket over her shoulders, staring at the legal eagle with eyes filled with many emotions, fear, terror, heartbreak, sadness.

They simply sat there, staring at eachother as the sun continued to rise, it's warm glow reaching every corner of the room... silence blanketing them..

Until lyrsong broke it by speaking in her hoarse voice, clearly yet broken...

* * *

"Everytime the sun rises.. a new day begins..."

"With new opportunities..."


End file.
